The world's first central hydroelectric station, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. It featured an Edison 'K' type dynamo that produced about 12.5 kilowatts from a water-powered turbine, lighting three buildings: two paper mills and the home of an industrialist. This plant was the first to supply electricity to multiple homes and businesses, marking the birth of the commercial hydroelectric industry.

The Appleton plant is a landmark in the history of technology and electrification, a process that fundamentally changed daily life and the urban landscape. This new, clean, and seemingly magical source of power influenced the utopian and science fiction literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, inspiring visions of a future free from soot and drudgery. It is part of the technological optimism that writers like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne captured in their work.